In Argentina, the cowboy is called a gaucho. He is a superb rider, understands the craft of tanning, drives huge herds of cattle across the pampas and knows the very finest steaks personally. That’s exactly where the successful restaurant concept of “El Gaucho” picks up, with delicious finesse: the perfect steak takes not just the goods and the know-how, but the right setting too. Because everything has been thought of here, from the lounge chair to the lighting, enjoyment can take centre stage. Why that has something to do with a scent secret from Aromea is something El Gaucho at Rochusmarkt in Vienna has now told us in person. And, with the blessing of the top brass, Melanie Rebernak was even allowed to reveal the secret of the perfect steak, in our interview.
Ms Rebernak, with five locations, the Gauchos are widely represented. What can your guests expect when they dine with you?
Rebernak: Our mission is to serve the best steaks from Vienna to Buenos Aires. We love steak, and we want our guests to be able to fall for this passion completely. With the very best ingredients from Argentina and Austria, we bring the very highest quality to the plate, and not only here in Vienna: we’re also successfully represented in Baden, Graz and Munich. And good steak naturally calls for good wine: we keep over 2,000 bottles from top national and international winemakers in our wine stores. With us, it’s not just the steaks that make a grand entrance: we’re all about enjoyment as a total work of art. True to our motto, “Regional and international, hand in hand”. There’s a reason El Gaucho has been named “Restaurant Concept of the Year”!
The El Gauchos advertise the best steaks from Vienna to Buenos Aires. What makes them so special?
Rebernak: Only Argentinian wet aged Gaucho Beef and Austrian dry aged beef ever land on our grills.
Wet aged means the meat matures in a vacuum bag. The cuts are vacuum-sealed immediately after butchering and stored chilled. As it matures, the meat gains tenderness through the breaking down of protein enzymes. What’s known as “table ripeness” is reached after just eight days at 2°C. But the ageing process isn’t fully complete until 28 days. After those 28 days, there’s no further effect on tenderness.
Eat the cut (a steak portion, in Anglo-butcher-speak) before then, however, and the meat hasn’t yet reached its “optimal” tenderness. With meat from Argentina, the sea voyage alone is enough for the optimal degree of ageing. Domestic beef, by comparison, often reaches the customer “too fresh”, which shows in both the flavour and the tenderness of the meat. Of course, you also have to make sure the meat doesn’t age for too long: ageing for more than two months (with wet-ageing) no longer has a positive effect, and this is actually where the meat starts to decompose. And that would really stink.
But steak isn’t everything: fish and soups, gnocchi, salads and much more. That adds up to quite a few good and perhaps less good smells. What was the deciding factor in choosing AROMEA scent marketing?
Rebernak: Every restaurant smells like a restaurant, whether you like it or not. But we wanted to go a step further and chose a very special fragrance that harmonises perfectly with the El Gaucho concept. At our five locations, we rely on certain interior features that make our El Gaucho experience authentic. The open kitchen, for example, or our glass wine cabinets. Features you recognise. With AROMEA Airdesign, we’ve now made scent one of our features too.
Which diffuser did you choose together with AROMEA, and why is it the right one for you?
Rebernak: We chose the Aromea Pro scent system with the fragrance oil “Velvet Wood”. In terms of performance, this nano diffuser with AirQ technology is perfect for the size of our restaurant: the Aromea Pro can be built directly into the ventilation and the lighting track, or mounted on the wall. With its woody, modern and mysterious notes, the fragrance in turn brings both our interior and our philosophy into the overall experience.
The El Gaucho menu really does have something for every palate. To what extent is perceived taste influenced by the ambient smell?
Rebernak: Enjoyment must of course never be affected! With us, you only notice the scent in the entrance area and then perhaps for another few minutes. But that’s very important, of course, when you enter our restaurant, and when you leave. Later, when you’re enjoying your steak, the air in the room can be completely natural and neutral. But it’s always pleasant to walk into a room that smells good. That way, El Gaucho stays in your memory twice over. As they say, the first impression counts and the last one lingers. And the customer is happy to come back, because the steak and the mood are simply right.
Thank you for this look behind the scenes at the El Gauchos!
El Gaucho on Vienna’s Rochusplatz on seeing you again
